Performance of Zambia’s Cotton Sector under Partial Reforms
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4. The provision of services affecting yields was left almost entirely to ginners. The dominant ginners have consistently provided farmers with highquality seeds, insecticide treatment, fertilizer, and advice on agronomic practices and quality management, but their resources were insufficient to meet the needs of a rapidly increasing number of farmers entering cotton production. Larger farmers benefited most from these services. The CDT, the institution responsible for research and development, extension services, and training, used its limited resources mainly to develop new seed varieties. Substantial scope exists for yield improvement. The yield potential of the Chureza, F-135, and CDT 2 cotton varieties currently used is over 2,000 kg/ha, three times the mean yields currently realized. Mean yields achieved in demonstration plots managed by lead farmers operated under Dunavant’s YIELD (Yield Improvement through Empowerment, Learning and Discipline) Program are over 1,400 kg/ha.14 Research also shows that animal traction increases yields significantly. A comprehensive program for yield enhancement will be needed to realize this untapped potential. This would include expanding Dunavant’s YIELD Program to cover a larger number of farmers, enhancing the capacity of the CDT to supplement private companies’ efforts in provision of extension services, facilitating farmers’ access to funds to acquire farm assets, and improving agricultural infrastructure, including irrigation.15 Low cotton prices were partially caused by the adoption of Bt cotton in India and China (Baffes 2012). The lack of Bt cotton adoption by SubSaharan African countries has resulted in an inability to gain the benefits of higher yields at lower costs, which would have counteracted the negative effects of low prices. The CDT tried to develop the institutional structure to adopt Bt cotton in the early 2000s, but the effort was rejected by the current president and abandoned.16
Conclusions The driving force behind the successful growth performance of Zambia’s cotton sector is the input credit and extension scheme effectively implemented by two dominant ginning companies operating under limited competition. Smaller companies have also begun to participate in this scheme. The experience of some African countries shows that competition beyond a certain point carries the risk of undermining the input credit system.17 It is advisable, therefore, to maintain a concentrated